Dr. Eggman watched his battleships, his robots, and his life's work literally crash and burn as he sat on the rooftop. His nephew was Shadow The Hedgehog… Who would've guessed? This whole time, he had been fighting his nephew! Eggman remembered when he gave Matthew the bubble gun for Christmas many years ago. Those were his best memories, the ones he spent with Maria and Matthew.

Night had fallen over Westopolis. After sitting there for a long time, he heard the sound of a helicopter. A bright spotlight shone from its bottom. It moved on the scientist, illuminating him in a bright white light. He knew he was about to be arrested.

"You are surrounded," a voice boomed from the helicopter. "Surrender now."

An angry expression took over Eggman's face. He raised his fist in the air and shouted, "Curse you, Shadow The Hedgehog!"

The Roses had made it home safely. Their house was unharmed, and, thankfully, so were the rest of the houses in the neighborhood. Neither Amy or her parents said a word about anything. They pretended nothing had happened. It'd just been a regular day, and no attack had taken over Westopolis. The eerie silence disturbed Amy. She thought about the city. What was its future now? What would happen to the people who lost their homes or their families? She then realized how thankful she was; she had not lost her home, and she had not lost her family.

She thought about Shadow The Hedgehog. He was the one who stopped the attack. He was responsible for letting people live. However, he was also responsible for letting people die. Saving the city had some kind of price.

She was sitting on the couch when there was a knock on the door. She answered it and saw was greeted by Officer Jones.

"Officer," she said half-surprised, half-terrified. "Do you know where Matt is? Is he alive? Stranded? Hurt?"

Jones put his hand up. "Woah, hold on there, miss. Can… Can I come in?"

"Sure," she said, taking a few steps back.

"You see," said the officer as he stepped in, "I was hoping you might know where he is."

Amy's parents heard someone come in and stepped out the kitchen to see who it was.

"May I help you?" asked Mr. Rose.

"I would like Amy to come with me," Jones explained. "She's not in any kind of trouble, I just need her helpt to look for something."

"What?"

"A person."

"Who?"

Amy stepped in. "My boyfriend."

Mr. Rose looked at her and furrowed his brow. "Is it that… Matthew Robotnik?"

Amy nodded.

"I never liked him. He took my clothes."

"Can I go?" she asked.

Mr. and Mrs. Rose exchanged glances. Mrs. Rose nodded, signaling to her husband that she should go. Mr. Rose sighed and looked at his daughter.

"I guess so."

Amy and Officer Jones immediately walked out, leaving Mr. and Mrs. Rose in the dust. Agent Whitely was waiting for them in front of the squad car. Jones moved to her side, and they both faced toward Amy.

"So, do you have any idea where Matthew might be?" asked Whitely.

Amy thought for a moment. She remembered when he'd suddenly disappeared, she went to his house once and found it completely empty.

"I do," she said.

"Where?"

"His house."

Jones and Whitely looked at one another and shrugged. "Might as well give it a try," Jones said. "Just give me directions."

Amy, Jones, and Whitely got in the car and headed toward Matthew's house. It was in a neighborhood far away from Amy's, in a completely different district. It was a long drive, especially since the roads were closed (except for city officials), filled with rubble, debris, and wreckage from the attack. The sky was clouded with smoke that blocked the shine of the full moon. Ambulances were everywhere, rushing injured people to hospitals. There were a lot of fire trucks, too, hosing down burning houses and buildings. Sometimes a piece of a destroyed building completely blocked the road, and they had to go somewhere else. Amy wondered how much the city had been destroyed.

Matthew's neighborhood was not as lucky as hers. Some houses were missing chunks of walls or roofs, others were utterly flattened. The sight of his house broke her heart; the top half of his suburban home was completely gone, leaving four walls, some windows, and a door.

"We're here," she said, talking with a dry mouth.

Jones stomped his foot on the brake and stopped the car immediately. He turned to her and told her, "If he's in there, take your time. He may or may not wanna come out."

Amy understood and nodded. She got out the car and walked to the front door, then put her ear against the crack. There was faint murmuring inside. Was it Matthew? She took a deep breath, then gripped the doorknob and turned it.

Matthew was sitting in the empty living room, the sky above his head. There were a few traces of the torn off ceiling, but it was all gone otherwise.

"I failed… I failed… I failed…" he was mumbling, for he truly had failed. He might've stopped the Eggman Fleet from obliterating Westopolis, but there was no escaping the aftermath. Now the city's future was unknown. The glimmer of hope he'd seen was gone.

His lips were chapped, and his throat was dry. He tried swallowing, but all he could muster was an uncomfortable gulp. He turned his head toward the girl standing in his doorway.

"Amy…" he tried to say, but could only mouth the words. This feeling he had… Was he… dying? He felt like he was fighting and winning & losing at the same time. But it was not his sacrifice he took against the Eggman Fleet that was killing him.

It was his failure that was killing him.

"I failed… I failed…" he muttered.

The girl ran to his side and sat down beside him, wrapping her arms around him. Matthew practically fell into her embrace.

"Mom…" he whispered. "S'that you?"

"No," said Amy's voice. "It's me."

"Amy…"

"Yeah. You're gonna be okay, Matt."

"I failed… I failed… I failed…"

"Matt…"

"I failed… I failed to be good enough for you, Amy."

Amy pulled him in closer and started sliding her hands along his back. He sighed as she did so. "Matt, if there's one thing you are, it's not good. It's the best. You've been more than good enough. You've been the best."

Matthew looked up at her and smiled. "How'd you find me?"

"You're never hard to find," she said, giving him a kiss on the forehead.

He nuzzled into her, and they sat there in silence for a few moments. "You okay?" he asked, breaing the silence.

Amy chuckled. "He saved us. Shadow The Hedgehog saved us. He saved me, my mom, and my dad."

Matthew grinned, and a tear rolled down his cheek. "Good," he said.

Amy folded her hands tenderly around his neck, and their eyes met. They could see the fire in them. Amy's was green, and Matthew's was red. He ran his fingers through her silky blond hair.

"You're amazing," he said.

"I know," she said, smiling. She then pulled him into a kiss.

2 Weeks Later

Matthew and Amy were walking down the sidewalk, hand-in-hand. The particular street they were at was closed for construction, but only to vehicles. They watched as a crane hoisted a slab of rubble off the cement.

"Amy," Matthew said, his face bright with a happy smile, "there are a lot of foster families in Westopolis, so…"

Amy's eyes brightened. "You're staying?!"

"I'm staying."

Amy let out a squeal of happiness and pulled him into a tight hug. "How caught up are you on make-up work?" she asked after she let him go.

"I'm… getting there. There's a lot to do, but it's great being back at school."

"You can handle it, though, right?"

"Pshhh! I could handle a whole year of make-up work if I had to."

They continued walking. "Hey, wanna hang out later?" she asked. "I could use another back rub."

Matthew raised his eyebrows. "Another one? What do you keep doing to it?"

They both laughed. Suddenly, a white streak flew past them, and Matthew disappeared as it went by. Confused, Amy started looking around.

"Matt?" she asked "Matt?"

Matthew found himself flying high above the streets of the city. He looked behind himself to see a white-colored creature that somewhat resembled Shadow The Hedgehog, though this one had yellow eyes, and a light blue outline surrounded his body.

They suddenly stopped, and the white being threw Matthew towards the ground. He had just enough time to transform into Shadow before he slammed into the ground with an incredible impact. He stood up, his red eyes glowing. People were scurrying away. The white being slowly lowered to the ground. The light blue outline around him disappeared as his feet touched the ground.

"Hello, Matt," he said.

Shadow's eyes widened as he recognized the being. "Silver The Hedgehog… Commander!"

The commander—or Silver—grinned. "That's right." His body became outlined in light blue again as he pointed the palm of his hand at Shadow. Shadow could feel his body being outlined in the same color, and he started levitating. Silver then thrust his palm forward, throwing Shadow into a car.

"Like it?" Silver asked. "Telekinesis. Like your power, only better." He picked Shadow up with his physchic power and pinned him to the ground, then picked up a car and slammed it into him. He hit Shadow numerous times until the car was a plate of metal with wheels.

Shadow felt his body get free from Silver's power and lunged at him.

"It's no use!" Silver shouted as he pointed his palms at Shadow and caught him in the air. "Take this!" He slammed Shadow against the street, then at a building, then through the window of another building across the street. Shadow tumbled in the air and sailed through another building. His Hover Shoes had been fixed, and he used them to stop going any further.

The people who working in the office he was in hurried to get out of their as quick as possible. Silver flew in and looked Shadow in the eye.

"Why are you doing this?" Shadow asked.

Silver paced around the office. "Robotnik attacked the G.U.N. Headquarters and stole the Chaos Emeralds that were in our possession. He used the element of surprise. He hit us when we were least expecting it. I've come to recover the Emeralds he stole."

"Commander, you know I'm not affiliated with him."

"Maybe so… But my superior officers and I decided to sit back and watch Westopolis burn. This isn't so bad, we thought. We'll get them back. We were sure that you, Matt, would fail. Your only experience of fighting was destroying our tanks, but we were certain that wasn't enough to stop a whole attack."

"I… I don't understand."

"I've resigned from G.U.N., Matt. They tried to get the Silver The Hedgehog serum out of my system, but I wouldn't let them. I've come to kill you, Matt. I've come to be the hero Westopolis so richly deserves."